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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256547">You Seem Like The Hero Type</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtypeshadow/pseuds/newtypeshadow'>newtypeshadow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Banter, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Curse Breaking, Curses, Dragon Tony Stark, Dragons, Evil Alexander Pierce, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, Knight Bucky Barnes, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Mentioned Alexander Pierce - Freeform, Mentioned Becca Barnes, Minor Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Tony Stark, Spells &amp; Enchantments, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:40:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtypeshadow/pseuds/newtypeshadow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You seem like the hero type," Hot Brunet said with an amused tilt to his distracting lips, eying Bucky's sword and the metal gauntlet that disappeared up his leather sleeve. "Lemme guess: you're a brave knight come to slay the evil dragon and free the poor terrorized villagers from the draconian scourge."</p><p>Bucky snorted. "Well, you got the knight and the mission parts right. 'M not sure about the rest of it."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>STB Bingo: Round One, WinterIron Week</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Seem Like The Hero Type</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the three WinterIron Week Day 4, Dec. 17 prompts: Bucky(/Tony) Needs a Hug, Forgiveness, Fluff.</p><p>This also fulfills STB Bingo square N1 - Betrayal.</p><p>This fic was inspired by <a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/735581605493473400/791168214733553684/villain_meme_-_villain_protects_hero_sent_to_them_to_die.JPG">this picture of a series of Tumblr posts</a>.</p><p>There’s now a <a href="https://ficbook.net/readfic/10224212">Russian translation</a> by <a href="/users/Ahem_ahem">Ahem_ahem</a>!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky noticed the hot brunet almost immediately upon entering the inn in the village nearest to the dragon's mountain. The man, dressed in shades of russet and mustard, had short, windswept—or finger-swept?—brown hair that was just long enough to curl at the ends, a trim mustache and beard shaved into a spiked pattern the likes of which Bucky had never seen even in all his days watching the ostentatious fashions rife at King Pierce's court, and dark brown eyes warm with mirth. Those eyes lit upon Bucky as he strode up to the bar and roved over him shamelessly before, with a wink and a sexy smirk, the brunet resumed conversing with the barkeep.</p><p>The hot brunet sidled up to him after the slight barkeep—the inn owner, Steve—brought Bucky mead and promised his wife, Peggy, would be by with dinner shortly.</p><p>"You seem like the hero type," Hot Brunet said with an amused tilt to his distracting lips, eying Bucky's sword and the metal gauntlet that disappeared up his leather sleeve. "Lemme guess: you're a brave knight come to slay the evil dragon and free the poor terrorized villagers from the draconian scourge."</p><p>Bucky snorted. "Well, you got the knight and the mission parts right. 'M not sure about the rest of it," he admitted. He pretended not to notice the barkeep listening intently while drying a tankard.</p><p>"Huh," Hot Brunet said. "I'm not usually wrong—"</p><p>The barkeep snorted.</p><p>"Shut up, Steve! Like I said, I'm not usually wrong when I get a read on people. What'd I miss? Enlighten me, oh, brave knight!"</p><p>"Bucky," Bucky corrected.</p><p>That earned him an attractive but judgmental frown. "What kind of name is Bucky?"</p><p>Bucky rolled his eyes. It was far from the first time someone had found Becca's childhood nickname for him lacking. "Mine," he said genially.</p><p>"Okay, Sir Bucky—"</p><p>"Just Bucky. No titles."</p><p>Hot Brunet looked skeptical. "You're not a knight?"</p><p>"I am. But I'm gonna die a knight tomorrow, so I'd like to spend tonight as myself." He shrugged.</p><p>He'd made his peace with the assignment as he journeyed across the country to reach the dragon's mountain. It hadn't escaped his notice that people seemed happier and safer the closer he got to the mountain, rather than terrorized like Bucky'd been told ever since becoming a knight. He knew there <em>was</em> a dragon—it had killed every knight sent to slay it for the past decade—but maybe dragons were like people: not all good or all bad. That certainly seemed the case whenever Bucky asked for directions to the mountain. He had yet to hear someone speak ill of the dragon—and had, plenty of times, gained a villager's ire when he confirmed he'd come to kill it.</p><p>The Stark territories, ringing what had come to be called Stark mountain, were both named after the dragon who ruled them. Their verdant fields, lush forests, and plentiful rivers were much coveted by Shield and Hydra, the two neighboring kingdoms—but neither was fool enough to encroach upon a dragon's territory. King Pierce claimed killing the dragon would free the Stark territories' people from the dragon's reign of terror, after which Hydra knights could move in and protect them from the Shield army that would doubtless try to claim the region. From Bucky's experience of both kingdoms, and what he had seen on his journey to the dragon's mountain, the Stark territories were already in the best possible hands.</p><p>Bucky's reply and resignation seemed to give both the brunet and barkeep pause.</p><p>"You don't think you'll be able to kill it?" the brunet asked.</p><p>Bucky barked a sharp laugh. "Hell no. That thing's gonna tear me apart." He shook his head ruefully and took a few sips of mead. "Probably for the best," he admitted.</p><p>Steve had stopped pretending he wasn't listening. "Why is it better if you die?" he asked, arms crossed, as he leaned against the back counter.</p><p>"That dragon is the only thing stopping Hydra and Shield from going to war for the Stark territories. I've lived in both kingdoms. You're better off with the dragon."</p><p>"So don't kill it," a curvy brunette with a no-nonsense expression said, sliding a plate of meat and vegetables across the counter to him. Bucky could see by Steve's besotted expression that this was his wife, Peggy.</p><p>Bucky sighed. "Like I said, there's no chance in hell I'll kill it, but I swore an oath to fight it." He flexed his metal-covered fingers and realized they wouldn't be dextrous enough to use the proffered silverware. So, reluctantly, he removed the gauntlet.</p><p>The brunet gasped when he saw Bucky's hand.</p><p>The enchanted latticework inked onto his skin, extending from his hand up the sleeve of his leather coat, looked like an inky briar patch. Beneath the angry tangle was the silver scrawl of his sister Becca's name.</p><p>"Shit," the brunet said, open horror on his face for a few seconds before anger subsumed it. Then he masked the lot of it into a carefully neutral expression.</p><p>"What is it, Tony?" asked Steve.</p><p>Ah, so Hot Brunet's name was Tony. It suited him.</p><p>"That, right there," Tony said, wagging a finger at Bucky's arm, "is a really nasty binding spell. So. Who's going to die if you don't fight the dragon? Wife? Daughter?"</p><p>"Sister," Bucky said, sighing at Becca's name before boxing up that frustration and picking up his knife and fork.</p><p>"How far up has it spread?"</p><p>"Shoulder."</p><p>Tony made a considering hum. "So you've got a few weeks before it reaches your heart."</p><p>"At best," Bucky agreed with a nod. "You a mage?"</p><p>Tony's grin was short, sharp, and vanished swiftly, but the amused twinkle had returned to his eyes. "Something like that."</p><p>It was a cagey answer, but Bucky let it slide. "Can you break it?" he asked instead, motioning with his oath-cursed arm.</p><p>"'Fraid not," Tony said. "You'll have to fight the dragon to get rid of it."</p><p>Unfortunately, that's what Bucky had expected. The handful of other mages he ran across on his journey had said the same thing. "So I've heard."</p><p>"And you're going tomorrow?"</p><p>"I don't want to wait and run out of time. Best to just get it over with."</p><p>"Not a bad plan," Tony said. He leaned an elbow on the bar and looked Bucky over, just as he had when Bucky entered. The heat in his gaze had returned. So had the sexy smirk. "So. What do you want to do on your last night?"</p><p>Bucky grinned back and pointedly poured his gaze down Tony's body before meeting his eyes again. "I have some ideas."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Tony was gone when Bucky woke up.</p><p>Bucky didn't expect that to hurt, but it did. Tony was something else—something special. He wished there had been time to get to know him. Tony was the sort of man Bucky knew he could easily fall in love with.</p><p>But he had a dragon to attack to save his sister, and Tony was a distraction he might have spent too long following, so it was better that Tony left and took the decision—the <em>temptation</em>—out of Bucky's hands.</p><p>Steve gave him directions up the mountain.</p><p>Peggy patted his arm and wished him luck.</p><p>"I left my pack upstairs," Bucky told them just before walking out into the morning sunshine. "Will you give my things to whoever needs them?"</p><p>Steve and Peggy exchanged a look. Then Steve smiled, stepped forward, and clapped Bucky on the arm. "We'll take care of them," he said. "Who knows? Maybe we'll see you again."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The lush green forest surrounding Bucky as he ascended the mountain was thick and quiet. Although the rocky trail was dappled with sunlight, trees crowded the path, blocking the sun's heat and much of its light. The climb was arduous. Bucky was fitter than most and no stranger to rugged terrain, but his arm was soon sweating profusely inside the long metal gauntlet, and the climb eventually wore on the rest of him too.</p><p>He had drained his waterskin by the time he reached the clearing that led to the dragon's cave, but that was okay. He didn't need to conserve water. There would be no trip back down the mountain.</p><p>It hit him then, like a blow, that he was walking to his death. He was going to die today, probably painfully, doing something he knew was wrong, merely because it would save the life of someone he loved. For a moment, Bucky couldn't help but hate himself, and King Pierce, and even the dragon, though none of this was the dragon's fault. He breathed away the riot of anger and fear and guilt the way he'd learned to master himself before battles. He had no chance of winning this fight—and that was a <em>good</em> thing. There was no chance he would doom the Stark territories to war and the rule of men who weren't as good to their people as a fearsome dragon. And really, what was his life against Becca's? He'd rather die than do anything to jeopardize her life and happiness.</p><p>What happened today would harm no one but himself—and he wouldn't live long enough for regret to overtake him anyway.</p><p>Bucky steeled himself and started his trek across the meadow.</p><p>He heard the gale before he saw the giant red and gold wings that created it. Each wingbeat's rhythmic <em>boom</em> sounded like distant thunder, and rippled the grass and shook the trees. Then something large blotted out the sunlight. When the massive dragon Stark descended upon the clearing and landed in front of Bucky, wings outstretched and teeth bared, its weight shook the ground so hard Bucky stumbled.</p><p>The creature left him breathless with the kind of terrified awe that filled people who beheld celestial beings and gods. If it weren't the face of his impending death, Bucky thought the dragon might be beautiful. It was a vibrant cherry red all over, and its scales glittered like rubies. The scales on its belly looked like spun gold, and there were gold accents like filigree around its large brown eyes, wide crocodilian mouth, and lacing its body and limbs like the work of master gilders. Its body dwarfed the multi-story inn Bucky had slept in with Tony the previous night. Its head was easily the size of one of the turrets on King Pierce's castle, and swiveled from side to side on a long, sinuous neck as it studied Bucky.</p><p>Bucky felt the wind from the dragon's gigantic tail moving but was too slow to escape it. It slammed down around him in a wide ring that cut off all paths but the one straight to the dragon's jaws.</p><p>Then, wonder of wonders, the ferocious beast <em>spoke</em>. "Are you here to kill me, little knight?" The thunderous words were slow and measured, their cadence suggesting the dragon's mouth wasn't crafted for human speech. Nevertheless, Bucky thought it sounded curious, not angry.</p><p>He didn't suppose it had reason to be angry. Bucky's sword would feel, at most, like a needle if it somehow managed to slip between the dragon's armored scales.</p><p>For a moment, this terrifying realization and the shock of the dragon's intelligent speech choked Bucky's throat—but he'd been trained to face death and the madness of the battlefield, and quickly got ahold of himself. "I'm here to fight you," he told the dragon, drawing his sword.</p><p>The dragon let him. Its chuckles sounded like a crashing waterfall. "You and what army?" it asked. The tip of its tail thumped restlessly, and the ground beneath Bucky's feet trembled.</p><p>"Just me," Bucky said. Even so, looking up at the creature, he wasn't sure an army would have made much difference.</p><p>"They sent you <em>alone</em> to face me?" The dragon seemed affronted.</p><p>Bucky couldn't say that he blamed it. The dragon was certainly formidable enough to warrant an army.</p><p>Bucky knew when he set out that he'd been sent on a suicide mission, but it was only now, dwarfed by the massive dragon, that he truly <em>understood</em>: King Pierce had sent him here to die. The only person who would miss Bucky was Becca, and Becca was a commoner, just like Bucky had been before he was conscripted. There would be no insurrection if Bucky died on this mission, no nobility uprising. Bucky was masterful at killing—<em>humans</em>—but politically, he was expendable.</p><p>"Not a great plan," the dragon said scornfully. "There is no version of this where you win. You should surrender."</p><p>"I know," Bucky admitted, not because he was outmatched—though he was—but because what he'd come here to do was wrong. "But I swore to attack you, and I have to follow through."</p><p>The dragon blinked its large reptilian eyes at him, then snorted a blast of heat through its nose that made Bucky's face feel sandblasted despite the distance between the dragon's nostrils and his body. "What a noble oath," the dragon rumbled, sounding as if it meant the opposite.</p><p>Its accusation was painful but true.</p><p>"Today is your lucky day," the dragon said after a considering hum that Bucky could feel thrum through his own chest and throat. "I'm feeling generous. Come on. Take your best shot. I won't even move." It lowered its massive head to the ground and blinked like Bucky was a curiosity.</p><p>This felt like a trap. It probably was.</p><p>The dragon's eye looked like a vulnerable target, and was so close that Bucky could slice it with his sword if he took a few steps.</p><p>But Bucky wasn't here to kill the dragon, or maim it, or even hurt it. He was here to attack it just enough to fulfill his oath, without doing any harm that would jeopardize the Stark territories.</p><p>So he nodded resolutely and said, "Thank you." Then he dropped his sword, pulled a knife he knew was far too short to penetrate the dragon's scales, and flung it to the side—well away from the dragon's face—aiming at the center of a scale the size of a dinner plate on the dragon's tail. He didn't bother watching the knife hit, bounce off, or thump uselessly into the grass. He was busy peeling off his metal gauntlet to see whether his oath had been fulfilled.</p><p>He could feel a wash of cool already, though, like spring water trickling down his arm. He dropped the gauntlet to find the angry gnarl of thorns coating his left arm was disappearing from the outside in. Finally, the silver of Becca's name was unobstructed. Then that, too, vanished entirely.</p><p>Becca would be okay.</p><p>
  <em>Becca would be okay!</em>
</p><p>The sudden relief made him stagger. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and his eyes burned. A watery smile teased his lips.</p><p>Becca would be okay.</p><p>"Do you surrender <em>now</em>, little knight?" the dragon asked.</p><p>Bucky nodded, eyes on his freshly curse-broken hand, which he cradled, brushing his thumb over the memory of Becca's name. "Yeah."</p><p>The dragon's tail tightened its circle around Bucky, startling him into looking up.</p><p>"Take off your crest," it hissed. For the first time, it sounded angry.</p><p>Its tone sent terror crashing through Bucky's relief, eclipsing it with the certainty that he was prey in the hands of an insurmountable, <em>angry</em> predator. His hands were shaking when he frantically stripped off his surcoat, bearing the Hydra royal crest, and tossed it away.</p><p>No sooner had he done so than the dragon shot out a foot and raked the silver and red surcoat across the short space between them, the drag of its claws gouging deep grooves into the meadow. The dragon stabbed a vicious claw through the red star at the center of the crest and rose to an impressive height, swiveling its face away from Bucky. Then it held the surcoat to its snout and <em>huffed</em>—shooting twin jets of flame through its nostrils that instantly incinerated the surcoat.</p><p>With a casual flick of its claw, as if to clean it of the crest's taint, the dragon once more lowered its face to Bucky's. "Take off your weapons," it ordered—calmly, kindly—after studying him again. "And your armor."</p><p>They were yet more strange directives, Bucky thought when fear finally loosened its grip on his mind enough for him to do so. Nothing he had on him could do the dragon any harm—they both knew that. Maybe it didn't want metal stuck in its teeth?</p><p>Still afraid but resolute, Bucky did as instructed. His hands slowly steadied with the familiar motions of removing the trappings of knighthood. He'd done what he came here to do and, miraculously, had yet to be killed for it. Every breath he took was more than he'd dared hope for.</p><p>The moment he was well and truly defenseless, the dragon's tail constricted further, forcing Bucky away from his only means of protection until his gear was outside the ring of its tail and cut off from him entirely. "I'm keeping you," the dragon informed him. "You're from Stark now. Welcome to my territory."</p><p>"I'm… What?" Everything about this was baffling. Creatures like dragons only wanted sacrifices, right? <em>Virgin</em> sacrifices. To kill and eat! But citizens? "I don't understand."</p><p>The dragon tightened the red coil of its tail further, until Bucky's back rested against it, and there was barely room for him to take a step in any direction. All he could see around him was the dragon's massive tail, and above him, its massive head. "A <em>good</em> king wouldn't have sent you to fight me," it explained. "Not alone." Despite the magnitude of its voice, its tone was gentle. "<em>Your</em> king wasn't a good king. But he gave me your life, and it's mine now. I'm keeping it. No take-backs. From now on, you're <em>my</em> knight."</p><p>Bucky swallowed. Was he… Was he really going to live? "You're not going to kill me?"</p><p>The dragon snorted—thankfully away from Bucky this time, so he didn't feel like he'd been roasted alive. "You want me to?" it asked.</p><p>"No!" Bucky's nerves were too frayed for him to be embarrassed at the outburst.</p><p>The dragon snorted again and did its waterfall laughter thing.</p><p>"'M just… What do you need a knight for?" Bucky made himself ask. "What do you want me to do?"</p><p>The dragon grinned—and suddenly shrank and shifted in a dizzying, breathless display that was over in moments. Bucky staggered as the tail around him vanished…</p><p>But Tony's arms held him steady.</p><p>Which was good, because Bucky's knees nearly gave out upon seeing the transformation.</p><p>Tony was the dragon!</p><p>He had <em>always</em> been the dragon!</p><p>Bucky couldn't decide whether he wanted to punch Tony for the deception or kiss the distractingly pretty grin off his welcome face. Probably kiss him.</p><p>Definitely kiss him.</p><p>Bucky's hands drifted automatically to Tony's trim waist, just as his eyes couldn't help being drawn to Tony's bright eyes and grinning mouth. He was still reeling.</p><p>Tony was the <em>dragon</em>.</p><p>And Tony wanted to keep him. From the look in his eyes, it was the same kind of 'keep' Bucky wanted when they met at the inn last night, and longed for when he'd woken up alone.</p><p>Tony's brown eyes, the same shade as the dragon's, were alight with mischief when he finally answered Bucky. "I have some ideas."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the fic! If you did, kudos and comments are the best way to let me know. (Also, I love them.) ^_^ ♥</p></blockquote></div></div>
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